The Fennec Fox

These nocturnal hunters are the smallest wild dogs in the world, weighing two and a half pounds on average. They are also supremely adapted to the challenges posed by living in the Saharan desert, and have evolved huge ears to channel heat out from their bodies. But don't let the cuddliness fool you: fennec foxes are precision killers who can hear the subtlest movements in the sands below them. They may be cute to us, but their prey—birds, rodents, and insects—would not agree.